


Pentacles

by moemachina



Series: Final Fantasy Tarot Deck [2]
Category: Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X
Genre: Drabble, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-24
Updated: 2012-03-24
Packaged: 2017-11-02 11:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/368328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moemachina/pseuds/moemachina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a tarot deck, the suit of pentacles signifies coins & calluses & cornucopias & corpses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pentacles

****

**Ace of Pentacles: Wakka (Final Fantasy X)**

They'd gone berry-picking with noble intentions, but when they returned, Yuna was black and sticky.

"Dear God," Lulu said.

"She likes blackberries," Wakka said defensively.

"So you just let her stuff herself? She's a mess, and she's probably going to be sick. And how's she going to eat dinner?"

"Hey, hey! Blackberries are nutritious! And I'll...I'll just put her under the pump. The kid'll be squeaky clean in no time!"

Lulu lifted an eyebrow, so Wakka hastily pushed forward the bucket he'd filled. "And look! When we get back, me and Yuna are gonna bake a pie!"

Yuna belched.

****

  
**Two of Pentacles: Palom (Final Fantasy IV)**

Palom had not looked forward to the wedding, because it seemed to require uncomfortable clothes and good behavior.

The kitchens changed his mind. In the frenzy of broken plates and boiling pots, nobody noticed one little boy filling all the sugar bowls with salt.

But when the twelve-tier cake was wheeled past, his ambition surged. Should he fill a layer with snails? Should the chocolate rosettes come to life? Should the icing shriek when cut? What would amuse Cecil and Rosa the most?

Ultimately, the classic approach won. Palom sprinted to the gardens and started searching for a dozen frogs.

****

  
**Three of Pentacles: Elma (Final Fantasy X)**

"Captain, I brought you some coffee."

Lucil looked up from a map. "Ah, thank you, Elma. What time is it?"

"Going on midnight, ma'am."

Lucil sighed into her mug. "Maester Seymour wants us at the eastern cliff, but I feel we would be more effective toward the south..." She frowned. "What is the mood of the camp, Elma? How are the chocobos?"

"The chocobos seem well enough, ma'am, although Clasko swears they're putting up a brave front. He says they're hiding their fears about tomorrow's battle."

Lucil smiled at last. "Clasko can be very perceptive."

"I suppose," Elma said doubtfully.

****

  
**Four of Pentacles: President Shinra (Final Fantasy VII)**

They held the funeral the next day, and Shin-Ra Electric Power Company spared no expense. Midgar's citizens clotted the sidewalks and rooftops to watch the brass band and hired mourners snake through the city and toward the mausoleum. Naturally, the casket was closed.

Rufus stood on the balcony and smoked his father's cigars as the procession went past.

"Of course, the old man spelled everything out in his will. One last spurt of control, one last outdated idea."

By the door, Tseng was conspicuously silent.

"This is just a formality, you know," Rufus said. "He's been practically dead for years."

****

  
  
**Five of Pentacles: Teta Hyral (Final Fantasy Tactics)**   


The lord of the manor is dying, and Teta does not like death.

She is supposed to help Miss Alma with the dressings, the bedpans, and the leeches, but Teta can not bear to be in the same room with that sickly-sweet odor and those rattling coughs.

Instead, she hides in the forgotten passages of Igros Castle. She crawls forward through the dark with no clear destination, just a fear of rats and an aching hunger. She has not eaten since morning. She feels very cold.

It is Delita that finally finds her, curled up asleep and covered in cobwebs.

****

  


**Six of Pentacles: Cait Sith (Final Fantasy VII)**  


In the dark room, the toy cat rolled dice.

"If I get evens, I'll call Tseng and let him know where we are."

A three and a four.

"If I get odds, I'll confess everything. My real name, my purpose, my position."

Two. Six.

"If I get a pair..."

The cat's glass eyes glittered as he rattled the dice. Under his tin crown, gears spun and crystals pulsed.

"...I'll do the right thing."

Snake eyes.

The black cat frowned and picked up the dice again.

"Best out of three?" he asked his companion.

The stuffed moogle, as usual, said nothing.

****

  


**Seven of Pentacles: Kimahri Ronso (Final Fantasy X)**  


From his hammock, Kimahri can hear the sea. Mothers gossip over their fishing poles, fathers sing as they mend sails, and children shriek at blitzball practice.

Curled up on his chest, Yuna snores slightly. She is heavier than she looks.

If he were home... Kimahri closes his eyes, but the thought comes anyway. If he were home, he would be wrestling his pact-brothers in the snow to the beat of the grandmothers' drum.

He opens his eyes, and Besaid's sun blazes down. For an exile, it will more than suffice.

Yuna shifts in her sleep, jabbing him with her elbow.

****

  


**Eight of Pentacles: Mid Previa (Final Fantasy V)**  


Mid had not slept in thirty-six hours. He had eaten nothing but cheese sandwiches for a week; he had drunk nothing but strong tea.

Around him, the library's books rustled ominously. They did not like intruders, and they did not like oil lanterns. They especially did not like being read.

When Mid turned away from one monograph, it tried to bite him.

"Stop that!" Mid hissed and slammed the tome with his slate. "I've nearly got locomotive combustion figured out, but not if you keep nipping me! Unless you'd like to be part of my thermal experiments?"

The book sulkily subsided.

**Nine of Pentacles: Tseng (Final Fantasy VII)**  


"Even you Turks can't get away with kidnapping honest businessmen from their beds!"

"Do you take cream or sugar, Don?" Tseng asked.

Don Corneo pulled his dressing gown tight. "...sugar. Two lumps."

"Here you go. Now, sir, we've been hearing rumors that you can't keep a secret."

Don Corneo sipped his tea sullenly.

"And I think," Tseng said, "we would all agree that a wise man should know when to keep his mouth shut."

Don Corneo said nothing. He was staring at the human finger lying at the bottom of his tea cup.

"Discretion, valor -- need I continue?" Tseng asked.

****

  


**Ten of Pentacles: Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (Final Fantasy IX)**  


The royal catacombs of Alexandria had a tomb without a name. Many titles on other tombs had been crumbled and effaced by time, but this tomb was new, small, white, and blank.

As a child, Garnet used it as her military headquarters in innumerable imaginary campaigns, but now she just liked to rest along the cool surface as she considered its mysterious dreamer. Above her was the steady demands of dancing teachers, nagging mothers, and the golden throne of a centuries-old dynasty.

Down here, she could be alone with the dead and their secrets. Sometimes, she envied their unburdened names.

****

  


**Page of Pentacles: Yuffie Kisaragi (Final Fantasy VII)**  


Cloud woke to find Yuffie sitting cross-legged at the foot of his bed.

"Shit! Don't do that! Good lord, what time is it?"

"Sorry, commander."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Out. Gathering intelligence. Scoping out the land. Stuff like that."

"...We thought you'd skipped out on us."

She stopped smiling. "Hey, that's pretty low. I've been good, haven't I? I've been true! Faithful! Loyal! And you guys still think I'm dirt!"

Cloud groggily squinted at her. "Barret says you cheated him at cards yesterday."

"It's not my fault," Yuffie said, "that Barret can't keep track of his opponent's aces."

****

  


**Knight of Pentacles: Adelbert Steiner (Final Fantasy IX)**

They covertly watched from the rafters.

"This is cruel, isn't it?" Dagger whispered.

"Only if he finds out," Zidane said.

"This morning," Marcus said, "he spent two hours asking about his character's _motivations_."

On stage, a man shouted, "My lord, the _herring_ approaches."

He stopped, and they heard him mutter, "No, no, methinks that is far too coarse."

"How long has he been practicing?"

Marcus sighed. "Since this morning."

"You should have told him that he's playing a clown," Dagger insisted.

"But he's got to have dignity, or it won't work. It's better this way."

"My _lord_ , the herring _approaches_."

****

  


**Queen of Pentacles: Freya Crescent (Final Fantasy IX)**  


"So...what did you think?"

Freya ate a peanut. "Well. I liked the flood at the end. And the pyre. That must have been tricky to do."

"Ah, Cinna and Dagger were the ones responsible for the stage effects. They did a good job, didn't they? And, uh, any other thoughts?"

Freya ate another peanut. "I don't understand why she let the prince's advisor kill you at the end."

"Really? But I'd...I'd forgotten all about her and married another woman. She was upset."

"Oh, I got that," Freya said. "I just didn't understand why she didn't kill you herself."

  
  
 ****

  


**King of Pentacles: Gau (Final Fantasy VI)**  


"She flew away?"

"Yeah," Sabin said sadly. "Something like that."

They were building a snowman next to one of Narshe's disused mine shafts.

"Where she go?"

"We're not sure."

"Oh."

"We're just waiting for Locke to wake," Sabin said, giving their snowman a coal grimace. "And then we'll do something."

Gau finished their creation by tying his scarf under the snowman's lopsided head. The two stood back to survey him.

"Needs shoes, though."

"You may not give him your boots, Gau. You need shoes."

Gau scowled, but he was secretly delighted.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, "Gau not fly away. Ever."


End file.
